صغائر افعال الملوك عظائم

وأعراسها في الناكثين مآتِمُ

The smallest deeds of kings are mighty things,

and their weddings are funerals for oath-breakers.

هو الملك ما أدراك ما الملك دونه

تمرّ حلاوات وتحلو علاقم

He is the king—what can tell you what kingship is? Without him,

sweet things turn bitter, and bitter gourds turn sweet.

ولولا ركوب الليل لم يبلغ الضحى

ولولا الرزايا لم تصحَّ المكارم

But for riding through the night, one would not reach the morning light;

and but for calamities, noble virtues would not prove true.

بلى ربما ساد امرئ من يسوده

وقام بأمر القوم من لا يقاوم

Indeed, a man may sometimes rule one who rules him,

and one unable to contend may take charge of the people's affairs.

ولكن يبين الصبح من حالك الدجى

ويغرفُ من نزر المياه الخضارم

But dawn stands apart from the pitch-black night,

and mighty seas draw from scant waters.

ويخشى الفتى من بأسه قبل باسه

وقد تتقى قبل العضاض الأراقم

A young man is feared for his might before he strikes,

and speckled serpents may be guarded against before they bite.

وما كل من هزّ السيوف مُضاربٌ

ولا كلُّ من لاقى الكماة مصادم

Not everyone who brandishes swords is a fighter,

nor is everyone who meets armored champions able to clash with them.

وكل امرئ كان المعزّ إمامَهُ

يضيم ولا يهدي له الضيمَ ضائمُ

Every man who has al-Muʿizz as his imam

oppresses, but no oppressor can bring oppression upon him.

فقل لبني العبّاس ردّوا مظالما

فقد آن منكم أن تردّ المظالم

So tell the sons of al-ʿAbbas: restore the usurped rights;

for the time has come for you to restore what was usurped.

وإلا فردوا للمعز وسالموا

فأسلم أعداء المعزّ المسالم

Otherwise, return them to al-Muʿizz and make peace;

the safest of al-Muʿizz's enemies is the one who makes peace.

وما ينقضي حلي الخواتم منكم

وليس لمقطوع اليدين خواتم

And the adornment of rings does not cease among you,

yet the man with both hands severed has no rings.

لبستم ثياب الملك وهي عمائم

وكيف على الأقزام تلوى العمائم

You have donned the garments of kingship, though they are turbans;

and how can turbans be wound upon dwarfs?

ألم تأتكم أنباؤه وسماته

على أوجه الأيّام منها مياسم

Have his tidings and his marks not reached you,

their brands upon the faces of the days,

وحسنُ معانيه التي لو تجسّمت

غدت وهي من حسنٍ خرود نواعمك

and the beauty of his qualities, which, if embodied,

would become, in their beauty, your bashful, delicate maidens,

وما هد أرض الروم منه وقلقلت

بنا ملكهم من خوفه والدعائم

and the deeds of his that shattered the Romans' land and shook

their kingdom's structures and pillars through fear of him?

فجاؤوه من شتى مقرٌّ ومرسلٌ

وفادٍ ومفديٌّ وراض وراغمُ

So they came to him from far and wide: one submitting, one sent as envoy,

one paying ransom, one ransomed, one willing, one compelled.

فألفوه لا الدنيا تميل به ولا

كرائم ما تحوي عليه كرائم

They found that neither did the world sway him, nor

were the precious things it held precious to him.

وأشجعهم في مجلس الملك ناطق

وأبينهم في هيبة الملك سالم

The bravest of them in the king's court was one who could speak,

and the most eloquent amid the king's awe was one who remained unscathed.

وأشجع من عين رأته فلم تَجُد

حشاشةُ نفس أمسكتها الحيازم

And bravest was one whose eye saw him, yet did not surrender

the last spark of life held fast by the ribs.

ولولا دفاع الأصر عن مهجاتهم

لخانتهمُ أقدامهم والقوائم

But for the binding restraint that guarded their lifeblood,

their feet and legs would have betrayed them.

فما ظنُّكم ان أيقظ العرض سيفه

إذا كان هذا فعلَهُ وهو قائم

What do you think, then, if honor awakens his sword,

when this is what it does while it stands still?

وقالوا بهم فاغمد حسامك جُنّة

فقلت لهم إن السيوف تمائم

They said of them: sheathe your sharp sword as a shield.

I told them: swords are protective amulets.

وما ضرّ ذا حقّ أباطلُ خصمه

إذا كانت الأقدارُ عنه تُخاصم

His opponent's falsehoods do not harm a man with a rightful claim,

when the fates argue on his behalf.

وكل بناء أسس البغي أسه

يتاح له من كفّ بانيه هادم

Every edifice whose foundation tyranny laid

will be given a destroyer from its builder's own hand.

بني الدولة الغراء شيموا سيوفكم

فإني لها الملكَ العراقيَّ شائم

Sons of the radiant dynasty, draw your swords;

for I am eyeing the Iraqi kingdom for them.

وعزما فقد تعمى عيونُ صيرة

إذا لم يكن كحلَ العيون العزائمُ

And resolve! For a flock's eyes may grow blind,

if firm resolves are not the kohl of the eyes.

فعن معصم الرأي المعزّيّ بطشُكم

وهل تبطش الراحات لولا المعاصم

Your blows come from the wrist of al-Muʿizz's counsel;

and could palms strike without wrists?

ولولا هرقل لم يعد ساطعُ الهدى

ولا زال ليليٌّ من الكفر فاحم

But for Heraclius, the shining light of guidance would not return,

nor would unbelief's coal-black night pass away.

فليس الورى منه ولا هو منهمُ

وإن جمعت بين الفروع الجرائم

Humanity is not of him, nor is he of them,

even if crimes unite the branches.

وقد يدرك الشيئين مشتبهين من

جهات ومنها قائم البغي نائم

One may perceive two things as alike from

various aspects; among them, one who upholds tyranny is asleep.

وليس من الآنس البهائم إن جرت

مع الإنس في معنى الحياة البهائم

Beasts are not of humankind, even if they partake

with humans in the condition of life.

أألله لا تنفكُّ هادمَ عسكر

كأن الذي عبّوا إليك الهزائم

By God, you never cease destroying armies,

as though what they mustered against you were defeats.

بكلّ بلاد جرّ جيشُك ذيلَه

معالم من أحوالهم لا عوالم

In every land where your army dragged its hem,

remain traces of their state, not living peoples.

كأن لم يروا فيها لغيرك رايةً

ولا سُمِعت فيها لجيش هماهم

as if they had never seen any banner there but yours,

nor had the murmurs of an army ever been heard there.

وما من قليل سُدتَ أبناءَ هاشم

وإن كان منهم سادةٌ وأكارم

It is no small thing that you have become lord of the sons of Hashim,

though among them are lords and noble men.

وفي الجسم أشياءٌ حسانٌ وإنّما

تُخَصُّ بحُسن اللثم منها المباسم

There are beautiful things in the body, yet only

the smiling mouths among them are singled out for lovely kisses.

بمصرٍ صبابات إليك وطالما

صرمتَ ولهفي من حبيبٍ يصارم

Egypt has ardent longings for you, and for so long

you have broken ties—my grief for a beloved who breaks away!

فروِّ صداها من جيوشك إنّما

هي القلب مهجوراً وهنّ الضراغم

So quench her thirst with your armies; for

she is only the forsaken heart, and they are the lions.

وناد فإن لم تسعَ نحوك أرجُلٌ

سعت طاعةً عنها إليك الجماجم

Call out: if no feet hasten toward you,

skulls will hasten to you in obedience in their stead.

وما بعدت غايات طاغٍ مصارم

إذا امتُطِيت يوما إليه الصَّوارمُ

The farthest reaches of a hostile tyrant are never distant,

when sharp swords are someday ridden toward him.

فيا ظالم الأموال كيف قدرت أن

تضاف إلى الإنصاف واسمك ظالم

O you who wrong wealth, how have you managed to

be associated with justice, while your name is Wrongdoer?

غرُبت ولم تغرب وبنتَ ولم تَبِن

فكلّ ضميرٍ جاهلٍ بك عالمُ

You have become remote yet have not set; you have departed yet have not gone,

so every mind ignorant of you still knows you.

كلّ بليغ في صفاتك أعجَمٌ

وكلُّ ملومٍ في نوالك لائم

Every eloquent man is tongue-tied in describing you,

and everyone reproached over your bounty reproaches in turn.

فلو تقدر الألفاظ أكثر تَرجمت

ولكنّ هذا ما تُطِيقُ التراجِمُ

If words could do more, they would express it;

but this is all that interpreters can manage.